[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/inside-the-life-and-dreams-of-female-gamers\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/inside-the-life-and-dreams-of-female-gamers\/","headline":"Inside the life and dreams of female gamers","name":"Inside the life and dreams of female gamers","description":"A Google-Niko Partners report commissioned in 2020 found that as of 2019, female gamers make up 38 per cent of Asia’s total gaming population of 1.33bn, and the numbers are growing exponentially. Yet, the number of women in the upper echelons of the gaming world remain a minority, and female gamers worldwide have reported facing […]","datePublished":"2021-05-22","dateModified":"2022-04-16","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Ming%20En%20Liew\/#Person","name":"Ming En Liew","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Ming%20En%20Liew\/","identifier":132,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8fe7a89455a989038349633329a6e4ad6299388f5e1e3ea83c28126090b2314f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8fe7a89455a989038349633329a6e4ad6299388f5e1e3ea83c28126090b2314f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1621603740603_1280X626_282329.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1621603740603_1280X626_282329.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/inside-the-life-and-dreams-of-female-gamers\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fv8EP7pTk0w#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fv8EP7pTk0w","name":"Valkyrae and Courage Become Co-Owners of 100 Thieves!","description":"Today we have a very special announcement to make for the future of 100 Thieves. Valkyrae and CourageJD are now Co-Owners of 100 Thieves! 100 Thieves content creators Rachell \u201cValkyrae\u201d Hofstetter and Jack \u201cCouRage\u201d Dunlop have joined the 100 Thieves ownership group, which also includes 100 Thieves CEO & Founder Nadeshot, Drake, media mogul Scooter Braun, and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.\n\n100 Thieves was founded by creators for creators, which is why it was important to have their voices in their ownership group. Valkyrae and CouRage will play a larger role within 100 Thieves, contributing to the broader business and strategy. This is a celebratory moment for Rae, Jack, and 100 Thieves. Individually and collectively the last three years together have been a huge success. This announcement is a reflection of that success and a signal to even greater things to come.","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fv8EP7pTk0w\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fv8EP7pTk0w\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fv8EP7pTk0w\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fv8EP7pTk0w\/sddefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/fv8EP7pTk0w\/maxresdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2021-04-07T19:45:07+00:00","duration":"PT21M17S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fv8EP7pTk0w","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCnrX2_FoKieobtw19PiphDw#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCnrX2_FoKieobtw19PiphDw","name":"100 Thieves","description":"The center of gaming and culture. \n","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/ZYhIsOb8CzYZnQ9fDjRyDFnA0YWIEeI-uT8C92GJmdCGcsvVx2OawblEbTd6HWj3WBJG5gwcvQ=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fv8EP7pTk0w#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fv8EP7pTk0w#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fv8EP7pTk0w&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fv8EP7pTk0w#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":737000}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fv8EP7pTk0w#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":48986}]},"about":["Community","Esports","Sex & Gender","Singapore"],"wordCount":2089,"articleBody":"A Google-Niko Partners report commissioned in 2020 found that as of 2019, female gamers make up 38 per cent of Asia’s total gaming population of 1.33bn, and the numbers are growing exponentially. Yet, the number of women in the upper echelons of the gaming world remain a minority, and female gamers worldwide have reported facing gender-based harassment. With the number of female gamers projected to grow over the next few years, TheHomeGround Asia speaks with six women in the esports and gaming industry to gather their experiences as a female gamer or esports professional, and hear their hopes for the future of gaming and esports.\u00a0Eugenia \u2018Xerrith\u2019 Lee has been gaming her whole life. From console to PC games, she has dabbled in them all, and she is no noob (slang for a novice, inexperienced, or poor player) either.\u00a0In first-person shooter game Valorant, Ms Lee holds the rank of Immortal, the second highest in the game, and one that only the top one per cent of players in a region achieve. As a talent under EMERGE esports and full-time streamer on live streaming platform Twitch, Ms Lee consistently clocks more than 20 hours of gameplay a week, and that excludes any time she spends playing the game off-camera.Yet, despite her proven capabilities and experience, she often finds her opinions and strategies disregarded simply because she is a woman: \u201cThey\u2019re [male players] like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re a girl. You play defence, just stop talking, go back to the kitchen,\u2019 and stuff like that.\u201d\u00a0Despite ranking as Immortal in first-person shooter game Valorant, Eugenia ‘Xerrith’ Lee is still subjected to sexist and disparaging comments (Source: Twitch \/ Xerrith)She recounts an incident when she was in a match and a male player repeatedly told her, \u2018Make me a sandwich,\u2019, every time she asked him to do something, despite having fewer kills than her in that match.\u00a0But this has happened so often that it is water off a duck\u2019s back. \u201cI have seen this so many times. I have been yelled at so many times, and I\u2019m used to it,\u201d says Ms Lee. \u201cI just try to talk to them normally and tell them, \u2018We can try to win this, or you can spend your time being toxic to another girl on the internet.\u2019\u201d\u00a0A perception that women are inferior gamersSinger-songwriter and streamer Jill-Marie Thomas says, \u201cWhen you\u2019re a female gamer, people always think that you suck.\u201dGoing by her moniker Aunty Jill on gaming profiles means that her sex is displayed for all to see, and fellow gamers bring it up whatever her performance. \u201cIf I\u2019m top fragging and I\u2019m winning the game, I\u2019m the MVP of the game, they\u2019re like, \u2018Are you really a girl?\u2019… And then when I don\u2019t do so well, \u2018Aiyah, because you\u2019re a girl.\u2019… One thing that they like to say is, \u2018Wah, you shoot damn well for a girl.\u2019 I hate that,\u201d she bemoans.Jill-Marie Thomas, who goes by her moniker Auntie Jill on Twitch, regularly streams herself playing various games, like Valorant and Dead by Daylight, or playing music. (Source: Twitch\/auntiejill)Crystal \u2018Vinny\u2019 Lai agrees. The senior executive for events and community at ONE Esports was an active League of Legends (LoL) \u2013 a multiplayer online battle arena game \u2013 Twitch streamer, in 2017.\u00a0She recounts her LoL days: \u201cBack then, I was in a female gaming team and we had a clan tag (a prefix attached to a gamer\u2019s username to indicate the clan or team they represent) in front of our names, so it\u2019s really easy to identify us as girls. When I played League of Legends, it was really commonplace to go into champion select, and then people just started going \u2018Oh no, it\u2019s a girl, we\u2019re going to lose the game.\u2019\u201d\u00a0This prejudice extends even to professional settings and tournaments. Mika Fabella, writer and producer at ONE Esports, cites an example of how she had been casting a Valorant tournament during an all-females show match, and saw many disappointing comments: \u201cPeople were saying, \u2018Oh, this is boring because it\u2019s an all-girls show match\u2019, or \u2018This is not really the pros, because it\u2019s all girls.\u2019.\u201d\u00a0For female competitors, such perceptions are part and parcel of their careers. Katherine \u2018Kimiko\u2019 Ho is a competitive Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) player, and has competed in regional tournaments, such as the MLBB Professional League MY\/SG in 2019, emerging first runner-up, and the SG\/MY MLBB Female Esports League in 2020, emerging second runner-up.Katherine ‘Kimiko’ Ho is a competitive Mobile Legends: Bang Bang competitor, and has achieved consistent top three performances in tournaments. (Photo courtesy of EMERGE Esports)Going into tournaments, Ms Ho highlights, \u201cPeople focus more on appearance than gameplay. They are not used to seeing female gamers in the industry. So normally, they are saying things like female gamers get carried (a gaming slang referring to players who win for their poorer performing team members) by other people.\u201dWomen belong in the\u2026As much as people have to say about where female gamers stand in the recreational or competitive gaming scene, they also have plenty of opinions about the types of roles women should fulfil within the esports and gaming industry.\u00a0Kristine Tuting, Associate Editor for ONE Esports, observes that in the professional esports scene, there is a perception that women are \u201cstereotyped to do more on-camera work, for example, hosting, streaming, or becoming a talent.\u201dKristine Tuting finds women in esports industries are often believed to play only on-camera roles, such as being a talent, streamer, or host. (Photo courtesy of ONE Esports)Further, gender consultancy firm 20-first discovered in their analysis of the top 14 global gaming companies that women are severely underrepresented in the upper echelons of the esports and gaming world. In 2020, of the 144 executives within the top Executive Teams, a mere 23 were female.\u00a0In-game, Ms Lee adds that oftentimes, female gamers are relegated to playing support roles in team games. She recalls that she was asked to play a supporting role instead of a subtank (a more aggressive role) in team-based, first-person shooter game Overwatch, with her fellow players giving reasons like it being \u201ceasier to pick up\u201d.\u00a0\u201cI felt prejudiced [against],\u201d she shares. \u201cI had to really stand up and argue a lot for myself. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t want to do something that could be good for the team, but I don\u2019t think I should be the only one sacrificing my effort and time just to do what they think is the best for the team.\u201d\u00a0Such expectations on female gamers can become a barrier for young girls who wish to pick up gaming, Ms Lee asserts.\u00a0\u201cIt really affects other girls coming into the community because they don\u2019t believe they can do it,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey see a girl being forced into support roles not being able to play duelists (the aggressor role in Valorant), and they believe that that\u2019s all they\u2019re meant for.\u201d\u00a0Navigating the gaming landscape as femaleVarious research studies have consistently found that women often experience general and sexual harassment from other players. As a result, many have taken to various strategies to mitigate harassment, such as by hiding their identities, or avoiding communication with other players.Ms Fabella relies on the latter when she is gaming: \u201cI don\u2019t turn on my [in-game voice communications] just because I don\u2019t want to subject myself to unwanted comments or anything about my gender… I don\u2019t want to get harassed.\u00a0\u201cI think that alone says a lot of how commonplace it is,\u201d she rues.\u00a0Mika Fabella, writer and producer at ONE Esports, prefers to keep in-game voice communications off when she games, in order to avoid getting harassed. (Photo courtesy of ONE Esports)Ms Lee, who has long since gotten used to the prejudice that comes with being a female gamer, still reports being slightly hesitant to turn on her in-game voice communication function after particularly \u201ctoxic\u201d games.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s better if I keep my mouth shut,\u201d she says. \u201cSometimes it feels like if they don\u2019t know I\u2019m a girl, they will just do what they are supposed to do and I don\u2019t have to worry about losing [because they don\u2019t want to listen to me].\u201d\u00a0She adds, \u201cIt\u2019s more in the interest of my rank [within the game] than me being affected, because I\u2019m upset about what they said about me.\u201dFor new gamers wanting to enter the esports or streaming world, Ms Thomas advises, \u201cYou have to have thick skin… Being a female gamer… it\u2019s like a prerequisite that you know you are going to encounter not nice people, people who are going to be discriminative towards you, or think that you suck.\u201d\u00a0But she says that these people are not representative of the entire community. The majority are still \u201cvery nice people\u201d that will \u201ccelebrate with you\u201d, \u201cencourage you\u201d, and \u201csupport you\u201d.\u00a0Moving towards a more inclusive gaming communityIn recent years, the landscape seems to be moving towards a more inclusive community as female gamers and streamers worldwide have been gaining traction and support. While men still dominate the space, women are slowly catching up, with popular streamers like Rachel \u2018Valkyrae\u2019 Hoffstetter clocking 23.6 million hours of watch time on her streams in 2020.\u00a0Ms Hoffstetter was also recently made co-owner of esports organisation 100 Thieves in April, making her one of the only female co-owners of an esports organisation.\u00a0\ufeffOf the changing landscape, Ms Lai says: \u201cThe gaming community views female gamers in a more positive light now compared to the past, and become really welcoming of female viewers as well.\u201dShe elaborates, \u201cWhile discrimination is still a thing, the vast majority of the gaming community now rally against it, and it\u2019s just really heartwarming to see. So I think we are slowly moving away from these stereotypes and misconceptions.\u201dWithin their professional capacities working in ONE Esports, Mses Tuting and Fabella also report feeling comfortable within their teams, even if they are primarily male.\u00a0\u201cI never once felt that my ideas weren\u2019t valid or that I wasn\u2019t being heard,\u201d says Ms Fabella. \u201cI think it\u2019s a sign that the space is a lot more friendly and a lot more welcoming to talk about issues like this [the gender disparity issue], and to grow out of it too.\u201d\u00a0Hopes for a gender-equal futureAs the industry grows, Ms Lee hopes that greater infrastructural support will be provided to female gamers, such as larger prize pools for all-female tournaments, and for larger companies to continue bringing in more female gamers and talents, to serve as role models in the industry.\u00a0In competitive stages, Ms Tuting wishes for a day where men and women can compete at the same level without any gender prejudice or discrimination.\u00a0Likewise, Ms Thomas yearns for that day when there will no longer be a need to differentiate between male and female gamers: \u201cWe\u2019re just a community of gamers… Ultimately, you don\u2019t know who you\u2019re playing against. You\u2019re playing on a PC, you\u2019re playing against a character, so [gender] doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d\u00a0Ms Fabella agrees, \u201cI would love for the day when it doesn\u2019t have to be news anymore. When we don\u2019t have to write headlines like, \u2018Oh, this woman team\u2019, and stuff. [When] we\u2019ve completely outgrown the misconceptions and little prejudices that we have, and it can just be.\u201d\u00a0Crystal ‘Vinny’ Lai hopes that more young girls will take the plunge and join the esports and gaming industry. (Photo courtesy of EMERGE Esports)And for young girls who dream of entering the industry, Ms Lai has some words of encouragement: \u201cI know it’s really scary to think about taking a step into a male-dominated industry. But the esports industry, while tough, is a great place to be,\u201d she assures. \u201cSo if you truly have a passion for esports, just go for it. Don’t let that fear stop you…cIt’s only impossible if you allow yourself to believe that you cannot achieve it.\u201dShe concludes, \u201cAt the end of it, I would love to see more ladies out there joining the industry and get to experience the same joy that I feel daily from being in it.\u201dJoin the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Inside the life and dreams of female gamers","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/inside-the-life-and-dreams-of-female-gamers\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]